Google Assistant to receive keyboard input, gesture shortcuts coming to Search

You might be happy enough interacting with the Google Assistant by voice alone, but what if you had the option of using a keyboard to input commands as an alternative? That"s already possible in the Allo messenger app, which features integration with the Google Assistant. It would make sense fo..

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The Pixels" Google Assistant is getting keyboard input soon

The Google Assistant situation is a huge mess at the moment. There are three different Google Assistants, and each have a specific featureset, which means some things are missing from one of them but not others, and so on. The Google Assistant that"s exclusively built into the OS of the Pixel and Pixel XL phones can only take commands via voice – you simply can"t write in order to ask it something. On the other hand, the Google Assistant that lives inside the Allo chat app can be talked to or texted, but only replies via text and never speaks to you. The third Google Assistant is the one you can find in the Google Home device, which has its own frustrating set of limitations, such as no support for multiple accounts.
Will this change in the future? Probably, but it remains to be seen how fast Google can move – and if it even wants the Google Assistant brand to mean a consistent featureset regardless of which particular implementation you happen to be using. The company has a..

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Google Keyboard crosses 500 million installs on Play Store

The Google keyboard app – which is now known as Gboard – has hit the 500 million installs milestone on Google Play. With this, the app has made it to the list that currently includes some biggies like Google Photos, Dropbox, and Skype.
Gboard offers several features, including glide typing, voice typing, built-in emoji and GIF search, as well as the ability to write in multiple languages at the same time.
The keyboard also features a new G button that can be used to instantly search Google for things such as nearby stores or restaurants, videos, images, news articles, sports scores, and so on.
Source

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TCL exec hints at game changing BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard to be unveiled at CES?

The other day, we told you that TCL was going to be designing, manufacturing, selling, promoting and handling customer service for BlackBerry"s new handsets. Considering that the BlackBerry DTEK50 and BlackBerry DTEK60 are both actually re-branded TCL related phones (the former is the Alcatel I..

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Gboard (formerly Google Keyboard) now available at the Google Play Store

A few days ago, we told you that Google Keyboard had been renamed Gboard and would soon be available for your Android powered device. Today, we have some good news. The Gboard app can now be downloaded and installed directly from the Google Play Store. The keyboard has a number of features built rig..

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Google Pixel C + Keyboard discounted by $150/£150 in the US and the UK

Before they were phones, Pixel devices were tablets – one of the few remaining high-end Android tablets around. People in the US and the UK on the market for a 10” slab can score the Pixel C plus keyboard for a total of $150/£150 off.
The Google Pixel C (64GB) drops to $380/£380 ($100/£100 off) and the Pixel C Keyboard to $70/£70 ($50/£50 off). The offer is valid until midnight on January 7 (PST).
As a reminder, the Pixel C features a 10.2” LTPS screen with 2,560 x 1,800px resolution (308ppi) and is powered by a Tegra X1 chipset. It boasts a 7mm thick body made of anodized aluminum and sports stereo speakers.
US store UK store Via

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BlackBerry Mercury live images surface, QWERTY keyboard in tow

BlackBerry may be pulling out of making its own hardware (the DTEK50 and DTEK60 are little more than rebadged Alcatels), but one final true BlackBerry is headed our way. Rumored since June, the Mercuryccropped up on GeekBench in October and last month its existence was confirmed by company CEO John Chen. Well, now we have live images.
The two photos that just showed up on Weibo reveal a device very much the same as that first shot from June from what appeared to be an internal presentation, so they just may be the real deal. Hidden on that previous image, we now see the prominent front camera and what are likely the proximity and ambient light sensors on the other side of the earpiece – let"s just call it a polarizing design.
Alleged live images of the BlackBerry Mercury
What we know for specs so far includes a 4.5-inch display with a 3:2 ratio (BlackBerry is all about crazy screen aspects – remember the 1:1 Passport?) , a 2.0GHz CPU as part of a Qualcomm chip, 3GB of RAM and 3..

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How to turn off predictive text and change the keyboard settings in Android

One of the (many) great things about Android is that it"s so customisable. Sometimes it"s hard to know where to go to change settings, though, so here we explain how to turn off predictive text on Android and how to set other keyboard preferences. See also: best Android phones you can buy in 2016
We"re using a Moto G with Android Lollipop here, and the Google Keyboard, but the process is largely the same for KitKat and other keyboards you may be using. The process has slightly changed in Android N, so we"ve added additional instructions for newer users where necessary – we also use Android N in the above tutorial video.
How to turn off predictive text on Android Step 1.
Drag down from the top of the screen twice if you have a recent iteration of Android to bring up the quick settings. Then tap the cog icon to open the settings menu. On other phones, it might be a slightly different route to settings, but you can always check the app tray for the Settings app and..

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